Follow my Nindo
by Snake99a
Summary: Naruto's life has followed a different path by only a few changes of fate. Naruto is a lot more like Minato shyer etc but still has his old quirks and goals. Find out how this new Naruto lives his own road to his fate. This not a harem and the love interest is not solidified, it could be anyone, you'll have to read to find out.
1. Chapter 1: A different path

Night of the Kyuubi's appearance and the masked mans plan unfolds:

"Minato you can't do this to your own child" Hiruzen Sarutobi, 'God of Shinobi' and 'the professor' pleads to Minato Namikaze 'Yellow Flash of Konoha'. Minato pauses, looking out the window of the tall Hokage tower and looks upon his half destroyed village with a tear slowly sliding down his face as he realises the hard and arduous path his own flesh and blood must walk. "I will not put this burden on any other child of this village or family, it must be Naruto, I know in my heart he will one day bring peace to this dark ninja world we live in, Master Jiraiya believed it too be me, but I will pass on not only my own will of fire to my son, but he will carry the strongest and most evil of all bijuu, just like his mother and Mito Uzumaki before him. Yet unlike his mother and Mito he will not lock away this power, he will harness the Kyuubi and tame the untameable, he will be the fire that lights the way for this village in the dark times that will come as he has strong Uzumaki and Namikaze blood flowing through him." Minato slowly turns to Hiruzen with a hardened glare that would make men any lesser then the third pass out from fear. "Hiruzen, I am no fool I would ask my son be seen as a hero, but I know the fate of Jinchuuriki is an incredibly hard one. You must promise me that you will watch over my son, I don't care if you are busy with paperwork, I don't care if you are in a meeting with those despicable council!" he continued boring holes into Hiruzen nearly making him quake in his shinobi sandals. "You will find time for my son and treat him as your own because I will not let him suffer the fate of loneliness if I can help it." He finished softly. "Minato I will protect Naruto with my life and treat him as my own, I will strive to keep him safe and happy and will not allow harm to befall him I pledge this with my life" as he looks directly into the Namikaze's eyes with determination and resolve. Minato looks thankfully at Hiruzen and sighs "thank you Hiruzen, I know it will be hard but do your best, I will be watching from above". But before Minato flashes off at the speed of light a baby's cry breaks the small silence that the room has and both shinobi look at Minato's bundle carried in his arms with sympathy and watering eyes. "SShhhhhh my son, it's ok, your father is here, he will protect you" he soothingly breathes out while rubbing circles on the child's back to settle the crying baby. His eyes harden again as he looks up to Hiruzen. "Good bye newly reinstated Third Hokage" Minato says with a hint of humour as Hiruzen rolls his eyes good naturedly which quickly turns to sorrow and replies " Good bye my boy" giving him a hug "I will see you in the afterlife when the shinigami comes for me" .

And with that said and done Minato uses his famous Hirashin and flashes through space and time to the battle field where the Kyuubi rages, hundreds trying to battle this creature that towers over the forests of Hi no Kuni at the eastern wall of the village that is virtually gone and surrounding village houses and buildings reduced to rubble. He looks at this destructive yet slightly majestic beast that is a limitless ball of chakra attempting to destroy his home by the command of the masked man. _"The masked man will pay for his crimes against the village and my family, Naruto will stop him and resolve this broken lands constant war and violence"_. Some of the soldiers see him on the battlefield and begin to cheer and cry out in happiness "Lord Hokage! He is here, he will defeat this wretched demon!" shouts of agreement followed and the morale of the ninja on the battlefield increases dramatically.

"All of you, back away as far as you can and be prepared for anything! I will defend our village with my life" Minato shouts as he begins to ready his Shiki Fuin to bring the God of Death. After all of the ninja have cleared out, the great demon fox looks down at Minato and chuckles evilly **"and what will you do young mortal? I could squash you right now, Hokage, pathetic! Get out of my way so I can find that despicable mortal who was controlling me and DESTROY HIM!" **the fox finishes with complete and utter malice bringing out so much killing intent that all the ninja and civilians in a kilometre radius fell to their knees in fear and hopelessness. But not the Yondaime, he stood with even more vigour and determination looking this monster of utter destruction, able to destroy mountains and create tsunamis with the flick of his tail. "Kyuubi I will not try to stop you with words, but I will not allow you to bring further harm to my village or its people" this brought renewed interest in the fox as he looked down at the only mortal in existence besides his last two jailors to ever stand up to him, the strongest of the bijuu, and he wasn't even locked in his jail anymore. **"Human, I must commend you for your resilience and determination, but I will crush you like a fly and this village, I am the strongest of the Bijuu what can you possibly do to stop me?". ** As the Kyuubi finished his speech Minato had finished creating a barrier around the beast but not only that he looked to his left as he heard a roar of battle see none other than his love, Kushina "Minato I can't hold him long with my chakra chains, I'm already weakened from him being pulled out of me!" she was severely weakened from the bijuu being extracted from her and barely standing on her feet, her long beautiful red hair plastered to her delicate face and head, her blue eyes pulsing out determination. An altar appears under the little baby Naruto and Minato and Kushina both smile with sadness at the son they no they can never see grow into a man, never take to school, never tell him stories before he goes to bed and never be there to comfort him if he has a bad dream. Tears leak from both their eyes when Kushina slowly trudges towards her son and husband "Hey there little Naru-chan , its mama, I just want you to know before we leave you that we love you very dearly and that we wished it could be different and that we could see you grow, but know that I will always be in your heart forever with your father by my side-" she is interrupted by a huge roar of fury that shakes the entire village **" FOOL! I will not be sealed inside your child! I have just been allowed to be free-" **Kyuubi is then also interrupted by Kushina and glared at with so much killer intent that even the demon fox second guesses his chances at fighting a new mother. " CAN IT YOU OVERGROWN FUZZBALL! I'M TALKING TO MY SON WHOM YOU WILL BE SEALED IN AND I DON'T CARE IF YOUR THE SHINIGAMI HIMSELF YOU WILL BE TRY TO BE NICE TO HIM UNLIKE EVERY OTHER HUMAN BEING YOU HAVE EVER CROSSED PATHS WITH OR I WILL COME FROM DEATH ITSELF AND-" " Kushi-Chan I need to have a final word with the Kyuubi before I summon the shinigami" Minato interrupts his wife which he is returned with a killing stare. After clearing his throat and shaking off his immense fear he looks back up at the towering kitsune and says "Fox, I know you want to be free like any other animal in this world, but I cannot allow this as the masked man WILL come back for you and control you, but what I need from you is to bond with our son, help him and become partners to help rid the world of that man who will undoubtedly bring despair and war to the lands" as he finishes this the fox looks at him incredulously and narrows his eyes to slits **" You want me, the most powerful bijuu in existence to cooperate with a foolish mortal boy! NEVER! I will destroy that sharingan wielder and rid his clan of existence!" **the fox roars with fury and malice. "No you will not Kyuubi because he will control you again and use you to destroy the elemental nations; I cannot and will not allow this. I tried to reason with you but why would I do that with the great kitsune." He says with a hint of sarcasm and amusement. And without further adieu finishes summoning the death god himself and begins pulling only half of the bijuu into his only son when his wife puts her hands onto his and starts pushing the last of her chakra into his hands to strengthen the seal " Minato I want you to seal the whole Kyuubi in Naruto, and yes you're wondering why, but firstly, I want to be with you, I do not want to leave you within the belly of the shinigami, you will come with me to the afterlife so we can properly watch over our son but secondly and most importantly sealing only the yang part of the Kyuubi will effect Naruto's chakra in a terrible way when he grows, only the Kyuubi's yin chakra can balance it and aid in both him and the Kyuubi working together to beat this masked man, so I will lend the last of my life to the shiki fuin with you to seal the other half into Naru- Chan as well as a bit of my life force so I can witness our sons life be with him even in death, which you will also do". Minato saw resolve in his wife's eyes and abided by her wishes sending all of the great Kyuubi no Kitsune into the body of a small child, which after the quick ritual, gave him 3 whisker marks on each cheek. Minato looked down on his now passed wife and smiles sadly knowing that she was dead but also comforting in the fact that he will join her shortly, and with the his last dying breaths goes to his son and starts to put the rest of his and his wife's chakra into his sons seal to strengthen it and be there for him if he ever nearly breaks the seal or he attempts to harness the kyuubi to its full potential. "Naruto my son, I am terribly sorry for the burden I must leave you but like your mother said, know that we love you and will always love you and be there for you" he starts to breathe out haggardly and he starts to heave " As my first and last present I give you my last Hirashin kunai that I saved for you to learn so you can protect your precious people Konohagakure no Sato. You are destined for greatness Naruto, I love you." And with that the great Yondaime of Konoha died.

Cheers erupted around the village between shinobi and civilians alike and all ran to the site to see a huge crater from the barrier, a fallen hokage and his wife along with a crying baby with marks on its face. People began to sob and weep for the fallen Kage and come to the conclusion that the demon that was sealed into the child had taken over him by the markings on its face. People began to blame this little child that is the "Kyuubi incarnate" and call for its blood and inch toward it to achieve their goal until a lone young jounin with gravity defying silver hair with a slanted hitai-ate jumped down and stood protectively over the crying child and with a deadly tone stated "If you come near this boy I will kill you." One brave enough replied " Get out of the way we are going to rid the world of this demon spawn for taking away our Hokage-" when he was interrupted by a booming voice they hadn't heard in quite some time " SILENCE!" Sarutobi Hiruzen roared over the huge crowd of shinobi and civilians alike. "You will not touch him, he is a hero who has taken on the burden the Yondaime has given him" murmurs were heard around the crowd when people to shout out "NO he isn't Lord Sarutobi, he is a demon and must be dealt with!" cries of agreement followed until the god of shinobi himself screamed with righteous fury "BE QUIET! From this day forth a law will passed, if anyone speaks of this incident to the boy or tells the next generation they will be executed immediately, if anyone speaks of the boy's jinchuuriki status they will be executed IMMEDIATELY!" after his speech all members of the crowd were completely silenced but fuming except one depressed and sorrowful young jounin who stood over his sensei's dead body weeping. Sarutobi slowly walked up to the crying boy and picked him up then looked out to the crowd "You will all begin rebuilding the village and helping to strengthen Konoha back to its prime. MOVE!" everyone scurried back to the village and immediately began the reconstruction of the village while bringing the dead back to bury. Hiruzen looked back at the baby then used shunshin to get back to the hokage tower placing the baby onto the couch in his reinstated office and continued to stare at the baby and spoke softly " this will be a hard journey my boy, but I know you will get through it".


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting the Fox

4 years after the Kyuubi attack:

A young blonde haired boy with 3 whiskers on each cheek is seen running as fast as his little legs can take him with a look of fear on his face. It is currently October the 10th and this is the day he remembers as his birthday. _" From what I remember jiji says that people get presents and cake on their birthday, how come I only get hurt by all the meanie villagers (he is young so he still talks like a baby often) and come to think of it, why were they chasing him in the first place yelling naughty words and saying 'demon' and 'monster'?" _

While he is running he accidentally trips and tumbles on the ground his little body getting scrapes and cuts. But what he dreads is a mob of villagers with sharp objects surrounding him yelling profanities he didn't even understand. He knew he couldn't be saved this time, Jiji was out talking to all the other Kages that he remembered from the book he read they were all like his Jiji but for different villages, and no one was here to help him. The villagers proceeded to hurt what they thought was a demon, but was actually an innocent child and after 30 minutes of this torture the child was bruised, burned, slightly poisoned and unconscious and left for dead. The worst beating he had received to date. But when all the villagers dispersed not wanting to suffer the penalty a faint red glowing aura enshrouded the young boy and his injuries slowly started to heal and in his unconscious state he was dragged into his own mindscape.

The young whiskered boy woke up in a dark, flooded underground hallway with pipes on the side. "Where am I" he questioned as he slowly followed the pipes, trudging through the murky water, after twists and turns he saw a faint light at the end of one of the tunnels and as he started to get closer the hairs on the back of his neck started to rise. He heard a deep rumbling as he approached and when he broke through the end of the hallway and into a huge room he encountered the biggest gate he had ever seen, bigger than even the village gates. It was huge at least 15 stories tall and he had to crane is small neck 90 degrees just to see the top of it. In the middle of the huge gate was a parchment that simply said 'FUIN'. "Woooooooow" he said with complete awe at what he was seeing, until a deep and dark chuckle came from within the depths of the gate. Curious as little Naruto was, he stepped towards it until he was arms length away from the darkness of the gate when two huge red slitted eyes opened and a massive fox head came into view, the one of his sharp canines being bigger than Naruto himself. **"Hello boy, nice to finally be of acquaintance, I was wondering when you were going to discover me" **after which the fox smiled menacingly and flashed all of his huge teeth and flashed his eyes, trying to intimidate and scare the boy like all who stood in his path _**"Besides that Yondaime" **_he thought quickly before realising the boy was staring intently at the fox, making him feel very uncomfortable, and when a great demon fox felt uncomfortable it did the only that came to mind, it roared as loud and as powerful as possible, literally lifting the young boy of his feet and on to his bottom, not once did he blink or twitch a muscle with his mouth in a permanent 'O' until he finally spoke "A GIANT FOX! FOXY-CHAN CAN YOU BE MY FRIEND!" while staring wide eyed at the Kyuubi no Kitsune with intrigue and fascination.

This invoked the biggest sweat drop the Demon Fox ever had in its 9000 year span of existence. _**"Damn Namikaze's and not being afraid of me!" **_After the awkward silence and the little Naruto realising what he said he became instantly embarrassed and shy and started mumbling and staring at his feet. The fox was literally speechless at how this young boy was literally acting like a fumbling boy around the strongest bijuu in existence. **"Do you know who I am boy?" **to this the boy just mumbled quietly enough for the foxes keen sense to hear "uuuummmmm...no mister foxy-chan" after this was said the foxes biggest sweat drop in existence had quickly been beaten just then as this boy was his host and had no idea who he was which was a huge insult to his pride. **"Boy I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune, greatest and strongest of the 9 bijuu, capable of destroying mountains and creating tsunamis with the flick of my-"**to which he was interrupted by a small mumble by the shy boy "Jiji says not to talk to strangers Mister foxy-chan." This made the fox feel more emotion he has felt in a long time as he felt his pride being hit for not being able to finish his introduction whilst being referred to as 'mister foxy-chan' and being able to beat his last two records of biggest sweat-drop in 9000 years.

"**You imbecile! I will not tolerate being interrupted by a runt that can't even read properly let alone stand up to my power-"**being interrupted again by the blonde "I can read words that a six letters" he counted with his cute pudgy fingers "and Jiji says I'm getting better "when he yet again realised he spoke his mind and became red and started staring at his feet. The Kyuubi no Kitsune for the fourth time in the span of literally 2 minutes beat his sweat drop record. Boy was this a...Interesting day.

"**Boy I'm going to have to kick you out of your mindscape because you do not yet have the brain capacity to talk to me yet. Until next time mortal." **Before he could shove this fumbling fool of a jinchuuriki out of the mindscape he said in a very quiet and shy voice while giving PUPPY DOG EYE NO JUTSU "Mister foxy-chan can you be my friend? Everyone else doesn't like me but we just met and you are big and furry and..." he started to get very shy again stepping on each foot nervously and then suddenly the Kyuubi started to think back to four years ago "_** Kushina threatened to come back from death to inflict pain on me if I was not nice to her son and by kami himself I do not want to cross her, last time I did that while I was jailed in her I witnessed the worst torture, bunnies and ponies all prancing around a paradise playing tag, sweet kami was that torture".**_ **" Uhhhhhhhh...Ok, but on one condition, you start to utilize that genius Namikaze brain of yours and start reading more books, and ask that Hokage of yours to allow you to read books on fuinjutsu, that cursed Yondaime was good at seals so you should be a natural" **

"_**Yes I can utilize this thing called 'friendship' and turn this host into something truthy worthy so we can utterly destroy that wretched Uchiha and his disgusting eyes that I will pluck out and eat off of a-" . **_"Umm, Mister foxy-chan?" pulled out of his musings the fox "what's a Namikaze brain and isn't Yondaime the fourth hokage? Because he is my hero and I'm going to become the greatest Hokage ever!" after saying this again he became so embarrassed he had his chin touching his chest and nervously stepping on each foot at a much faster pace kind of like a jumping jack. _**" Shit he isn't supposed to know about his parents until a later date" **_**" No don't worry about that Namikaze stuff just read and get scrolls on fuinjutsu and get the hell out of this mindscape! And before you interrupt me again yes you can be my friend as long as you follow what I said and start to get smarter and stronger, I need you to become stronger for us to destroy that Uchi-um get to become really strong friends! Yes that's right!"**

"Ok mister foxy-chan! How will I talk to you? **"Well boy now that we have made first contact our bond will grow as a jinchuuriki to a bijuu and-...we will become better friends over time and because we are such goooooooood friends you will get better control over the enhanced senses and the like that you get from me" **" Well that's cool mister-" ** " You will begin by calling me" **"-foxy-Chan" the silence that ensued after Naruto had confirmed he will call the greatest bijuu foxy-Chan he was rather roughly kicked out of his mindscape.

Our spiky haired blonde woke up from his dream, or was it a dream? He didn't know but all he knew was he made his first friend and it was a giant fox with nine swishy tails no less! Now all he had to do was start to impress his new friend by reading and learning about fuinjutsu...whatever that is. Utterly forgetting about the horrible beating he received he got up and started making his way back to the Hokage tower to wait for his Jiji to get back from his short trip. As he made his way there he had constantly looks of fear, anger, hate and disgust. How he knew it he didn't know but it kind of felt like he could sense their evil feelings and also could smell their disgust toward him. These sinister feelings that were being directed to this young four year old made him realise that he was brutally attacked not a few hours ago, and he had done nothing to deserve it. This sinister feelings and open beatings he had received started make him close up, he didn't want to smile for these people, he was going to be strong and he was going to prove that he wasn't this 'demon' but that he was Naruto Uzumaki!

Once he finally reached the Hokage tower the receptionist seemed to have ill intent toward him also as his 'meanie sense' as he now liked to call it was tingling. She reluctantly opened up the door to the Hokage office for him for fear of her boss and the leader of the villages' wrath. Once inside Naruto went to his favourite couch and took a blanket, wrapped it around himself and waited for his Jiji to finally return from his meeting with the other leader people and was going to demand some Ichiraku ramen! The best food in the world!


	3. Chapter 3: Reaching my Nindo

**A/N: If you have any suggestions or criticisms that are positive please PM me or review so I know I'm doing a good job! Just clarify for anyone. Naruto is quite AU and I'm actually taking a bit of Sai's character ( his terrible social awareness and amazing artistic nature) I thought I should do this because Naruto is born to be able to use fuinjutsu to the highest of levels ( Kushina was a princess of the Uzumaki clan renowned for their fuinjutsu skills and Minato himself was a fuinjutsu master) and I thought it would make sense if he too picked it up along with his artistic ways to properly express himself which he does not in the cannon unless someone is in a terribly dire situation which will still happen in my fic.**

(At the gates of the Konohagakure no Sato)

An Old man with a headpiece with the kanji for 'Fire' in his hand with a flowing white with dark red trimmings robe stared longingly at his home village " Ah, It's good to be back" he was interrupted from his musings " Hokage-sama we will accompany you to the tower". Hirzuen turned to the speaker to see none other than one of his most trusted Anbu, the dog masked captain. "All right dog, as you were".

The entourage made their way through the village, many of the villagers bowing or nodding their heads in respect and appreciation for their Hokage. Some who knew that their Hokage had a soft spot for the 'demon child' but could not help but still respect and admire this man, survivor of all three great ninja wars and 'god of shinobi'. When the entourage finally reached the Hokage tower he could sense in his office there was a very large signature, he motioned for the rest of the Anbu to leave except Dog and silently told him of the situation. Both high level shinobi approached the door to the office slowly opened it. Dog silently entered as protection for the Hokage and motioned him to come through. When he did he saw the cutest imaginable scene. Young Naruto sleeping curled up in a ball on the couch with his chest rising and falling peacefully. And they both thought this was an assassination attempt. _"My god he has more chakra then a chunin" _they both thought incredulously at exactly the same time.

Dog stood rigidly when he saw this, a very small pudgy version of his late and great sensei. This brought a slight smile under his Anbu (and cloth) mask(s). _"He looks like a spitting image of you sensei, I wish you were here now, to help him grow up into a splendid shinobi"_. Hiruzen quietly walked toward the little bundle and gently shook him. The blonde boy began to stir and his eyes slowly but surely fluttered and then opened with a bit of sleep in them. He proceeded to try and make sense of his surroundings while sitting up and rubbing his sleepy eye with his pudgy fist and yawned loudly which would make every woman in the entire village scream 'KAWAI!'

His bright cerulean cesspools widened in surprise and quickly he jumped into his Jiji's arms and finally let loose some of the emotions he had bottled up from when he was beaten to now and after a few minutes the boys sobbing and sniffing slowed and then stopped. When he was done Hiruzen put them at length "what happened Naruto? Why are you crying?" but Naruto wasn't listening, his shy nature came into full power when he realised there was a stranger standing a short distance away from them watching. Naruto looked fearfully at him and then at Hiruzen then clung on to him for dear life.

"Jiji don't let him get me!" and the demon fox inside him, was now watching his hosts life through his eyes with interest after their short encounter _**"How can this mortal fear some puny human with a dog mask but not me! I am the strongest of all bijuu! AND FOR GOD SAKE WHY DOES NO ONE ELSE GET THOSE PATHETIC NICK NAMES!" **_the bijuu was pulled from is thoughts when the Sarutobi comforted the boy and said "Naruto do not be afraid of dog, he is one of my most loyal and powerful shinobi and will not allow harm to come to us, there is no need to cling to me" he finished with a grandfatherly smile.

He gently put Naruto down and motioned him to introduce himself to the shinobi in front of him. The young boy was again fumbling and mumbling while staring at the ground. Dog could see the uneasiness and shy attitude that Naruto exuded "Yo, I'm dog as Hokage-sama has already told you. What is your name?" he started off a little bit aloofly. "I-I-ma-my na-name is Naruto Uzumaki!" he began very cluttered but finished with a bit of strength and looked up into the imposing figure of dog with determination to show he was not afraid. _"Interesting he is very shy like his father in the beginning from what Kushina-Chan had told him but her personality sometimes bursts to the forefront. Very interesting indeed". _ Naruto continued with his undying determination "and I will become Hokage and take that hat off jiji! Then all the meanies will stop looking down on me and I will gain their respect!" after this he blushed up a storm for telling a complete stranger his dreams that he has never even told his own Jiji no less and reverted back into his shy shell.

The other two in the room were staring dumb-founded at not only how fast the boys attitude could change, but just how uncanny his resemblance to his parents, his looks, his attitudes and even his goals! "Well Naruto I'm sure with hard work and dedication you can 'take my hat' so to speak, but why may I ask did you never mention this to me?" Naruto became embarrassed again "Well, I thought you would be mad at me for wanting to take your job" Hiruzen chuckled at this an Naruto got shy yet again "B-but, I'm sorry Jiji but one day it will be me sitting in that chair and having friends like Dog who will help me be a great ninja!" and with that said the young boy for the third time in a few minutes had reverted back into his shell.

The Third was now seated in his Hokage seat with a gift in his hand, of course he didn't forget the boys' birthday. "Naruto come here" as he approached his curiosity got the better of him. When he saw jiji pull out a rectangular sketch pad with a box of pencils. Not only that but he also brought out a jet black handled brush with a whirlpool symbol on the golden band near the brush itself. It instantly caught his attention. "What is that jiji?" he questioned whilst pointing at the intricately designed brush. "That my boy is a brush made specifically for kanji writing and fuinjutsu"_. "That's what foxy-Chan told me to start studying!" " _well Naruto, happy birthday my boy, I hope you didn't think I forgot!" and at the end of the sentence the Hokage was nearly crushed by a four year old boy hugging and sniffling while he stuttered out thank you constantly_. _

"Ok ok, Naruto I understand your happy but it is your birthday, remember this is the day you were born so cherish it and take these gifts-"Jiji" he was interrupted by Naruto and he continued "can I ask one last favour" as he looks up into the hokages eyes with the PUPPY DOG EYE NO JUTSU "can you please let me have a book on fuinjutsu? I want to learn so that I can fulfil my dreams, and I remember you told me that fuinjutsu is very good! But you said that the last masters of Konoha have either left or are gone to heaven like the Yondaime! _" His interest in fuinjutsu is well founded, maybe I will give him his father's book as it goes from beginners to masters and takes years study and take it in to its full." _"Of course my boy, and I have the best one for you" Hiruzen got up and walked over to the bookcase "Naruto close your eyes" to which the young boy comically slapped his hands over his eyes and you could tell he was listening intently. Hiruzen proceeded to nod to Dog who simply nodded back and the Hokage knew he wasn't watching either.

The Sarutobi went up to the bookcase on the side of the office and whispered "release" and the bookcase disappeared to show a gigantic room full of scrolls and books. But in the middle lay the villages most powerful secrets, the scroll of sealing. Naruto the ever so curious boy he is spreads one hand on his face and peaks into the room that is shown to all and his eyes widen at all the books and scrolls but what catches his eye is the huge scroll in the middle. Naruto runs over to the third in excitement and asks "What's that jiji?

Sarutobi is flustered as he realises Naruto has just entered the Hokages secret libr-well not so secret library now. "Naruto what did I tell you?" to which the boy becomes his trademark fumbling mess "sorry Jiji but I-I-um, really wanted to see." The third stern expression cracks and he gives the boy a wide grandfatherly smile "its ok Naruto I can trust you, this is the Hokages library and if you stay dedicated like you say you will you get to enter here whenever you need more knowledge and even to place in some of your own so you can pass on your knowledge to the next generation, strengthening the will of fire." Naruto was staring at the Hokage with his full attention and asked in a whisper "what is the will of fire jiji?"

Hiruzen pondered this silently, thinking of his three students, the legendary sannin; all of them were gone, none TRULY inheriting the will of fire. But as he looked upon the face of this boy, he knew in his heart that he would carry the light that brightens this dark world; he would carry the will of fire like no other. "Naruto, the will of fire is the will to never give in, to never give up, when all seems bleak, when the darkness is engulfing this village; the will of fire is to be the pillar of light that holds up our village, our home full of our precious people. This will of fire will ignite through this dark time and light up the village. I am this village's pillar of light, the Hokage, and my will of fire will last until my dying breath. But with my death that fire will not dissipate, it will ignite through those that I have passed it on to. This was the same for the First Hokage who ignited his brother the Second Hokages will of fire to continue to protect this village and act as it's pillar, then they both ignited my own will of fire. My will of fire will never dissipate Naruto, as long as this village stands and my precious people are within it I will burn bright! Protecting it even if I must lay down my life! For that is the will of fire"

A cycle of emotions went through Naruto as he listened to his Jiji's speech until he quietly spoke up "Jiji, am I one of your precious people?" to which the Hokage answered "You Naruto are one of my most precious, one that I would gladly lay down my life to defend". Naruto was dumbfounded, being mostly alone most of his life besides seeing his Jiji he never thought anyone would love him after all the meanies glared at him and called him mean names. Although he was young he was not naive, he knew there were bad people out to hurt the village, he could feel the sinister thoughts and feelings of people within this village and that was enough to realise the outside world was worse. Brimming with determination and resolve the four year old glared right into his Jiji's eyes "If you are willing to lay down your life for this village and be its pillar Jiji then I will be your pillar! I will protect my precious people to my dying breath just like you and I swear to never give up or never give in even if the darkness engulfs me or this village, I will work to change how the mean people treat and think of me, I'm not dumb Jiji I know they hate me, I can feel their evil and sinister thoughts when I'm near them. But I won't let that stop me; I will never give up because that is my nindo!"

The Sandaimes eyes widened to epic proportions after witnessing and hearing this and he could see, he could feel, he could SMELL the will of fire burning in this four year old boy stronger than any other. To believe this mere child had such a hardened resolve and a nindo no less at the age of four! "It seems my boy, that the will of fire has been passed and burns strongly within you" to this they both smiled widely at each other " You have made your nindo, you cannot go back on it now, here take this fuinjutsu book, it was written by the Yondaime himself, treat it with care and learn from it all you can, for you will need to grow strong to keep your promise and ignite this villages will of fire that has been waning over the years" he continued " and here take these 5 books, I know you are young, but I can tell you will become a great ninja Naruto and you will need all the training you can get, once you have read and studied those 5 books come back and we will see what you have learnt"

Naruto looked at the 5 scrolls _"Road to Ninja: Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Genjutsu. Chakra: the basics. Strategies and Tactics One. How to play shogi for dummies. Laws and regulations of Konoha."__** " Finally we will be getting knowledge into this brain, I will have to properly reveal myself to him, he is only four so he believes me only to be a part of his imagination, I cannot tell him now for it will derail his learning and training" **_

"Now Naruto it is getting late, take your new books and the gifts I gave you back home, Dog will accompany you" once he had finished saying this he looked at Narutos body and realised his clothes were destroyed and grimy "And dog could you please accompany him to a clothing store under my direct orders, and if they refuse use necessary force, get him some shinobi clothes for now and clothes that he can grow into so we don't need to make this a daily ritual" he looked at Dog who had been standing there listening the entire time, taking in every waking moment with the son of his sensei, drinking it in as he knows this is all the time he can have with him as the elders forbade him of approaching him for fear of his identity getting let out _"Kami damn village elders!" _

"Hai Hokage-sama, Naruto lets go" Naruto looked at him and nodded containing his happiness within a foxy grin that only Kami knows is trade-marked for our favourite whiskered blonde.

(A short time later)

After one shop had refused Naruto, Dog resorted to so much killing intent that Naruto felt it and got a little scared, so he had to lay off it and use physical means to tortu-...persuade the shopkeeper to allow them to buy new clothes, and buy they did.

"_**Thank god this imbecile didn't choose any stupid colours like bright orange, HIDEOUS! Now we can work on his stealth much easier"**_ Naruto was now decked out in tight long sleeved black top with the Uzumaki swirl on the back with standard shinobi pants, black sandals and black fingerless gloves with metal plates with the Konoha insignia. Yet the biggest wardrobe change was the medium length grey scarf that wrapped around his neck and face covering up to the bridge of his nose and the ends of the scarf framing the red Uzumaki swirl on his back. " Well Naruto, now you look like a midget, pudgy shinobi, all the girls will be screaming 'kawai'" Naruto blushed heavily after hearing this and said " Well I need to look like a shinobi if I'm going to be one" he muttered indignantly " Naruto? Why did you decide to wear a scarf like that?"

"Well it looks really cool for one and also because it hides my whiskers so it's harder for the enemy and others to tell it's me! " _"And so it's harder for the villagers to tell it's me so they don't glare at me but it will probably be short lived as my hair and eyes are too rare"_

"Ok Naruto hold on let's get you home now" and with that Dog grabbed Naruto and performed shunshin to the front of his grungy apartment. Naruto turned to Dog and excitedly asked " Can you teach that to me!" while jumping up and down his eyes shining with awe " sorry Naruto but it is a very hard jutsu and you will have to get much better and stronger to use it as it is a jonin level technique" "Well I will just have to learn it myself and become stronger for my nindo" he muttered under his breath as he reverted to his shy state again but finishing with a hint of determination.

"Good night Naruto" and with that Dog shunshin to wherever he needs to be and Naruto turned back towards his home and started walking towards the front door _" Well now it's time to fulfil my dream and become the Hokage dattebayo!"_

"**Boy!" **a deep and gruff voice spoke in Narutos mind, " Foxy-Chan!" he said out loud and looked like he was talking to himself until he went into his home and flopped down on the couch. **"MY NAME IS-you will have to earn my trust and respect before I give you my name so you will in the mean time call me Kyuu-" **"Foxy-Chan right? Ok so mister Foxy-Chan I got all this stuff so I can draw and so I can do fuinjutsu like you said AND learn about chakra basics!" _**"KAMI DAMN BRAT! Calm Kurama CALM he is only four he doesn't understand your limitless source of chakra or immense fury...calm...cal-" **_"FOXY-CHAN! ARE YOU THERE! PLEASE DON'T BE GONE! You're my first friend and I need to make sure I look after you because jiji taught me to protect my precious people!" he all but screamed _**"Well I'll be he wants me, the most sinister being in the universe to be his precious person, hmmmm maybe this mortal boy is different, maybe he doesn't just seek us bijuu out for power like the others"**_** "ALL RIGHT BOY! I'M HERE NO NEED TO YELL, now let's get to it, we have a lot of training ahead of us now open up those books and get STARTED!" **to which Naruto smiled under his scarf wildly and started bouncing up and down at the prospect of training and learning new things "Ok Foxy-Chan, me and you are going to be the best! DATTEBAYO!"


	4. Chapter 4: The best day,the worst night!

**A/N: Just so you know understanding this Naruto is a bit hard because he is a perfect mix of his father and his mother, but do not fret if you get a little lost on how he acts, remember he is socially lost and he only opens up to the third although he is very intelligent but of course he uses this to create the greatest pranks imaginable, better than even painting the kage mountain ^^. He will definitely be having his crush on Sakura as she is uncannily resemblant to his mother (pink hair-red hair, spastic rage with strength to back it up) but we don't know if they will get together or not you will just have to find out. Also quickly, I know that most jinchuuriki get some quirks from having certain bijuu in them, so I enhanced the idea of Naruto being able to feel evil and it will grow and become something awesome also the feeling of evil will branch out and he will be able to pick out different emotions making him a great sensor, enjoy, Ja ne.**

(8 years after the Kyuubi attack)

It is a dark and cold night October 10th came around yet again, but there is a whole congregation of villagers, like every other year since the Kyuubi attacked and slaughtered families and their home. Together they made a circle, all holding torches and weapons of some sort in the middle of the mob stands one lone boy. Now grown in height from his mere baby form from four years ago. With an athletic build in his shinobi get-up Narutos deep cerulean eyes blazed with defiance but also with understanding if you dug deep enough, conveying all the emotions flowing through him without his face being exposed. His hairstyle looking disturbingly similar to the 'Yellow Flash of Konoha' and his grey scarf moving in the chilly night breeze.

The last 3 years of his life have not been for the faint of heart, his house being vandalised daily, belongings getting stolen, paints sprayed on his wall saying "Demon" and "Monster". Wherever he walked his now keen sense of sinister feelings and auras would literally skyrocket when going into a busy sector of the village and his birthday being, just like now, a mob of villagers out for his blood. The scarf he wore didn't last long in hiding him like he wanted (and like he said) but the worst part was the villagers were getting worse when they saw that the 'demon spawn' had taken on the appearance of the Yondaime. Discrimination against him intensified to the point where he had to learn henge no jutsu just to get the food diet he needed to becoming a great shinobi like he promised his Jiji.

Naruto was not stupid, he had been studying fuinjutsu long enough to know that the markings on his belly is one of the most complex and intricate seal he has ever seen or heard of, the Shiki Fuin. He now knew that he was a Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the greatest of the nine bijuu who destroyed families and half the village. He knew his hero the Yondaime sacrificed his life to stop the kyuubi from further destruction. At first when the fox had told him in his mindscape Naruto was so angry that his first and best friend had done that to the village he had sworn to protect, but when he was told that he was controlled by none other than Madara Uchiha, he was gobsmacked- the man he read in 'Konoha: A History' the rival of the First Hokage and one of the founding fathers of the village had used his highest level of the sharingan to control his friend! Boy was he mad, he was on his top 5 list of people to beat up for getting so many villagers families killed and for causing his hero to perish to save the village but most of all, he was going to stop him from ever hurting this village for causing so much hate and fear to be put on to him and the fox who was controlled. Yet he always since finding out, pondered on why he was chosen. What would life be like if he wasn't?

He was quickly pulled out of his thoughts by the villagers walking closer towards him. He would not retaliate to their hate; he knew they were hurting for their dead family and friends and need it to be taken out on someone. "DEMON! YOU KILLED MY FATHER YOU WILL PAY!" a chunin leading the villagers screamed at him, to which Naruto turned to him and bored his eyes into his, seeing into his soul to help ease the darkness in his heart. He had been learning to sense evil and it had slowly started to help him see into people's souls, literally. If he kept eye contact and concentrated for long enough he could gaze at the person's emotions that are festering inside. He was slowly practising how to feel the emotions all around him rather than focusing on one person.

Naruto slowly got onto his knees and began to speak, which frightened the hell out of everyone around because he was usually so closed up and took their anger without verbal or physical retaliation. But what he said confused them and made them all stop in their tracks. "I understand, I will accept all your hatred, but remember this, I am no demon" and with that he closed his eyes and escaped into his mindscape so he would not feel the pain, yet.

"**BOY! Why do you insist on taking this abuse, you are my container, you could squas-" **"Fox" Naruto interrupted with strength " we will not ever retaliate, for you have inflicted many sins on this village and I will personally repent to them for you and I, for you have been with me my entire life. You are as much a part of me as my legs or my arms and I can't let them go unaccounted for can I? Not to mention you are one of my precious people remember? I would give up my life for you or Jiji!"

"_**This boy, he is the one old man! I can feel it, he is easily the only human I think I will ever respect even without the power I usually need to be forced into respect like the Shodaime" **_kyuubi flashed his canines in a true smile, one that he hadn't in thousands of years **"Well boy, if you say so. Now how do you think your studies have been coming? Because I have been watching and I am quite impressed with your fuinjutsu skills and not to mention that painting of me isn't too shabby either" **he finished with his trade mark menacing fox grin.__

Naruto went got very shy and was fumbling as usual at the end of the foxes little speech "Umm- thanks it wasn't that great" he finished with a bit of sad smile_( A/N:Quickly forgot to inform you whenever he talks to the fox he never has his scarf on as he trusts him unconditionally and feels safe so it doesn't appear with him in his mindscape)_ **"Non-sense, I think that painting is the only one that could do justice to the great and almighty-"**"Foxy-Chan" Naruto intervened with his own fox grin that turned into one of his VERY rare true smiles. ** "WHY MUST YOU PERSIST WITH THAT NAME? I AM THE STRONGEST CHAKRA FORCE IN THIS UNIVERSE SHOW SOME-" **"respect" Naruto finished for him with his genuine smile shining. _**"How can I ever stay mad at this kid, GAH he is turning me soft, I'm the Kami damn embodiment of evil, well I let the old man (for all those confused the old man he is referring to is Rikudo Sennin) into my sinister heart then I can let this boy in, unlike the rest of his pathetic human race" **_

" **Anyway kid skip what you think, I think that your fuinjutsu is at a very high level, your half way through your Yondaime's book, further than anyone within this village has ever dwelled, keep going and you can soon get to his level and beyond and also keep up on playing Shogi with your 'jiji' his is a veteran tactician living through three of those futile and miniscule ninja wars, back when I was around your age...in centuries my brothers and sisters used to fight on the scale of nations. Of course being the strongest and oldest of them I broke up the fights with my power until... never mind that is for another time" **the fox finished with a glazed look in his eye until Naruto thought he saw a tear fall out of his eye and could feel the foxes endless pool of rage start to boil until it calmed down once he realised where he was and who was in front of him.

Yet what truly shocked him out of his stupor is when the young boy walked THROUGH the gate and came up to the great fox, standing under all 15 stories of him. The kyuubi realised he could kill this boy and escape and continue releasing his hatred on this world. He looked down onto the boy and said boy motioned him to be pulled up to his level. The Kyuubi set his left paw open and allowed the boy to stand in the middle of it, looking like a crumb to eat on it. The Kyuubi lifted him to his eyes when the boy said "It's ok to cry if your sad Foxy-Chan, remember that your apart of me so I have to help you! You are precious to me!" and with that the supposed crumb wrapped his arms as far as he could on the kitsunes snout and held tight.

The kyuubi was dumb-founded, never had he ever been hugged for being sad, yes he comforted his younger siblings when humans attempted to hurt them and he resorted to obliterating them but this was a new concept to the 9000 year old fox. This little runt of a human had wormed his way into his heart the past few years and the fox was beginning to really believe this boy will be who his old man spoke of.

"**Alright, alright now boy back to your side! It's weird having someone else in my prison now it's time to go back to the real world those scum villagers are done and I healed your wounds but your clothes have some rips and burns, nothing a repair seal can't fix" **Naruto looked back at the fox as he crossed back through the gates to the other side and looked back at the fox with determination on his face "I promise I will find away to get you out of that prison Foxy-Chan " of which the foxes eyes widened until the end where he face planted so hard it shook the whole mindscape. **" Thank- you...Naruto" **a wide smile spread on his face again "Don't mention it, what are friends for?" and then he released himself from his mindscape. But what he didn't know was that his whisker marks were slowly becoming more defined and the powers granted by the kyuubi enhanced further with their relationship growing stronger each passing day. The Kyuubi also saw what his contain-friend was about to wake up to and smirked **"He is going to be shitting himself" **and he proceeded to burst out in a deep and near cynical laughter.

(Back in reality: A few minutes before Naruto comes out of the mindscape)

An 8 year old pink-haired and bright emerald eyed girl was walking along with her mother until her mother turned to her " Sakura dear, I need you to wait here I am just going in to pick up the clothes we ordered ok? Don't walk off and be careful" the young girl gazed up at her mother who had a darker shade of pink hair with blue eyes and nodded with a cute smile " Ok mama I'll be alright I promise" her mother smiled back and turned and walked into the shop she was heading into.

It was quite early, 8am for them to get moving but her mother was getting the clothes they ordered for her when she enters the academy in several weeks, she stood around waiting looking at the slowly awaking shops on the soon to be busy street until she turned around and saw a boy around her age lying on the ground, his clothes with holes and burns in them. _"I wonder if that boy is ok! I should go see he might be hurt" _slowly she walked to the boy and knelt down next to him looking at him, he had black skin tight long sleeved top with a grey scarf covering his face except his eyes which were closed. He was breathing in and out peacefully and his bright blonde hair reflected the sun's rays beautifully and waved slowly with the morning breeze. The pink-haired girl had a red tint in her cheeks when she gazed upon this boy but slowly she saw that he was waking up and didn't know what to do.

Naruto started to open his eyes but was blinded by the sun's rays. As he slowly fluttered his eyes to adjust to the brightness he saw something that knocked the air out of him. There was a girl, no, an angel kneeling before him overlooking him with the sun sitting behind her, her shoulder length pink hair taking him in a trance leading him to her slightly wide and charming forehead that brought him to her shining emerald eyes which he looked into until he could see the purity within her soul, no taint, no hate. She asked in a questioning but cute voice "Are you okay?" Naruto was yet again dumb-founded, why was an angel talking to him? A jinchuuriki? The village pariah. "I-I-Um-err-are you an angel?" he stumbled on his words at first but found his voice that he rarely used with awe.

The girl blushed up a storm which instantly made him also blush after realising what he said, but she couldn't see it because of his scarf "N-no I-I'm Sakura Haruno" she finished softly and right then and there Naruto knew within his heart that he had to protect this girls pure soul that had not been touched by the hate in this world, and could even admit to himself that he was developing the first and biggest crush of his life!

As Sakura looked at his eyes that stared right into her she finally realised that he had some of the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen, startling blue, but not like her mother's no! These eyes were like no other, going from a deep cerulean to a bright cyan in an instant as if his eyes were a constantly changing slew of blues.

Naruto was about to say something when he heard a small scream of "Sakura! What are you doing get away from him" what Naruto assumed was Sakuras mother came up and yanked her away from him and scolded her saying the usual, that I was not to be trusted and not to go near him. "But mama he is hurt and no one is here to help him" Narutos eyes widened when he heard this and his heart was now securely held in the Sakura Haruno's hands. "Leave him, come on Sakura we have better things to do" her mother finished venomously.

As Sakura was pulled away, she turned to look at the mystery boy who she was now firmly interested with to see him standing to his full height, his scarf billowing in the wind along with his sunny blonde bangs that came down like someone she swore she saw on a daily basis but couldn't quite finger it. But once she looked into his sky blue eyes that slowly changed to deep cerulean again she saw something she never thought she would see in a young boy. Loneliness. And with that she was about to turn a corner when she saw him turn and walk down the road on his own, if it hadn't of been so sad she would of thought he was really cool.

As Naruto trudged off on his own he thought _" She was beautiful, the first person my age to ever say nice things to me, or really anything that was derogatory at all ,I think I love her" _**"HAH how about you wait before you get these thou-" **_"No. I will protect her soul, I saw into it and she was pure, untainted and I can't let that be shattered by anyone, she is the only one besides you, Jiji and Dog to ever talk to me in such a way and I will not let anyone hurt her just as my nindo says!" _

And with that one track mind toward the pink haired girl he pulled out his trusty sketch pad and pencil and began walking while sketching, by the time he was finished he had a picture perfect sketch of her, now all he had to do was get out his even trustier special brush that jiji got for him which had unlimited ink and can change brush sizes by the use of chakra to finish it off! While he was doing this he had found his way to a pier at a serene lake and had sat down at the edge of it. As he continued the finishing touches to the image after what seemed like three quarters of a he sensed a confused soul with his now even more accurate sensor coming his way.

A boy with Black spiked hair at the back with sharp bangs resembling a duck bottom wearing a black t-shirt with a high collar and Uchiha symbol on the back with black shorts was running towards his Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu training area so he could finally master it to come out from under Itachi's shadow and get his father's acknowledgement. For so long he was within the shadow of his genius brother who was in Anbu at the age of 13 while he at 8 was not even a genin yet! _" No! It doesn't matter, Itachi can be as good as he likes, all I want is fathers attention for once and for him to be proud of me" _he thought as he ran down the hill path towards the lake to see a boy sitting at the end of the pier, his place of peace and quiet, his katon jutsu training area. He had a red swirl on his back like his fathers jonin vest and black tight long sleeved top. _"I wonder who this is"_

The Uchiha slowed down when he was a few metres behind the boy when said boy slowly turned and onyx eyes met sapphire. The Uchiha didn't know what it was but he swore he saw deep depression and loneliness in those eyes until it quickly disappeared and the blonde boy started to get uncomfortable from the stare and his started to get a worried look in them, like he was afraid something was going to happen. "Hey what are you doing here?" the blonde flinched at this and the worried look intensified but he didn't talk he just stood up holding his sketch pad and paint brush tightly to his chest and was looking down shifting from foot to foot.

Naruto was very, very nervous. He knew this boy was one of the Uchiha, a high regarded clan and didn't want to be on their bad side, he already was on the bad side of basically everyone else why add more? Naruto slowly looked up and for the third time that day spoke " I-I-I'm S-s-sorry I s-sometimes l-like to come here to draw and have peace and quiet, um why are you here no one usually comes here?" he had started off fumbling as usual but as he talked more than two sentences in 4 months since he had seen his Jiji because he said he had a lot to death with lately but didn't tell him what, he left it as that because he knew being Hokage was tough.

"I'm here to practise jutsu, do you mind moving a big behind me so I can practise on the edge of the pier, you can stay just don't distract me" Naruto looked at the Uchiha eyes widened with disbelief and confusion showing through his eyes "You're not going to try and be mean and attack me or put me down are you? Because I am not in the mood for being pushed around today" his eyes hardened after saying this, he was sick of some of the villager kids trying to befriend him and then when his back is turned hitting him or doing mean things. The Uchiha looked quizzically at the boy "Why on earth would I do that I just met you" Naruto muttered a reply "You would be surprised"

The Uchiha was confused, he shrugged it off and said "Well anyway I'll be over there practising" and with that the Uchiha strode over to the edge of the pier and started going through hand signs and then yelled out " Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" and a moderate flame burst from his exhaling mouth and hand seal sizzling the water below it. Naruto watched very intrigued and saw every flaw that the Uchiha had made, he hadn't arched his back properly, he didn't inhale enough air and he could tell that the Uchiha didn't apply any chakra to his throat to assist in the huge air that needs to burst out of his mouth to great the high C to low B ranked jutsu.

Naruto wanted to help him but knew he was shy and would screw up any chance of a mutual respect or friendship to form, although he didn't have any idea of those last two anyway. He continued watching him flying through the jutsu a couple of times before he started drawing the image in front of him. After another 25 minutes the Uchiha let out a frustrated cry "Why can't I do it damn it!" Naruto looked up and came to the conclusion that to make friends you have to be nice and help them so he quickly sealed away his sketch pad and placed his paint brush in his back pocket and slowly got up and tentatively walked over to the Uchiha who was still fussing over what to do.

" e-excuse me" Naruto said softly " I think I can help you with that jutsu" the Uchiha looked back towards the slowly approaching uncertain blonde questioningly " really? How? This is a pretty advanced jutsu that I need to learn to be a true Uchiha" Naruto finally got over his anxiety of the situation and with the strength he doesn't unconsciously know says "I might not have studied this jutsu specifically but I know quite a bit about katon jutsus. Show me the hand signs" the Uchiha complied and what he saw made his eyes widen to saucers and his jealousy boil.

Naruto flew through the hand signs although a little bit slower than the Uchiha, applied a little bit of chakra to loosen the throat and inhaled enough oxygen to make his lungs and yelled while releasing the oxygen " Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" the flame was easily double the Uchiha's and made the water boil. The Uchiha looked at the boy with awe, jealousy and disbelief. How could he have done it? He had worked on it all day and couldn't do one half as good "how!" the Uchiha all but demanded. Naruto thought he angered the Uchiha and recoiled with fear in his eyes. He saw this and his eyes softened a bit wondering _"why is this boy so closed up and scared?" _"Sorry I just would like to know how you did that"

Naruto tried to compose himself from his anxiety from nearly stuffing up what he thought could become his first real friend **"Hey I'm your friend remember?" **_" Of course you are but I meant real world and human" _ to which the fox grumbled and apology and said **"Touché, but if you're wondering how you did that Katon so well it's because my affinity is fire and that gives you very high control over fire jutsu than any other human being, you're the fire equivalent your Second Hokages amazing water manipulation , besides your personal affinity which we don't know yet but fire at the moment comes very naturally to you but because it was your first time performing one it was quite weak" **_"AWESOME!WE ARE THE BEST FOXY-CHAN" _** " . . .FUC-"**Naruto quickly cut him off so he could refocus on his conversation and replied "I can show you and because apparently I have an extraordinarily high affinity for fire jutsu judging from that display as it was my first time" to which the Uchiha's jaw dropped, that grand fireball jutsu was nearly as good as his father's and it was his first time! "Anyway" Naruto continued in his self-proclaimed scholar mode "Your problem is that you haven't properly read up on katon jutsus and you don't have the experience to know that to inhale and exhale such large scales of oxygen you need to apply chakra to your throat to loosen it up as well as arch your back and when you release your jutsu sling shot forward to give the jutsu that little extra momentum. Also because you didn't know to loosen your throat you couldn't get the maximum amount of oxygen to your lungs"

The Uchiha looked thankfully and thoughtfully at Naruto " Ok so chakra to throat, inhale more oxygen and arch back while inhaling and jerk body with the jutsu for momentum got it" to which the Uchiha turned back to the pier one metre next to Naruto and flashed through the required seals and did as the blonde told him and to his inner delight and satisfaction the flame was perfectly contained and powerful, not as big as the blondes but the flames were hotter and tamed compared to his wild and untamed jutsu. After the jutsu died down the blonde was staring out onto the water and shifting uncomfortably, straight back into his metaphorical shell to protect him from the insults and abuse as well as just people in general. The Uchiha turned to Naruto and held his hand out to him "My name is Sasuke Uchiha, thank you a lot for helping me with this jutsu, now people will acknowledge me for me and I won't be in my brother's shadow anymore" **"KILL HIM HIS PART OF THAT KAMI DAMN CLAN!I DEMAND HE BE-" **_"Kyuubi, stop, he is 8 years old he hasn't done anything against you it was Madara Uchiha so stop being a dummy" _he came out of that thought quickly and Naruto looked at the sincere smile that he helped bring to Sasukes face and smiled a genuine smile, one he hadn't done out of his mindscape in years. " That's ok Sasuke my name is Naruto Uzumaki I should say thanks to you, you gave me a jutsu" Naruto continued by bowing to him humbly "It was a fair trade, so it's ok but that was amazing how you did that so well on your first go, and I think we should both head home, it's getting late and our parents will get worried if we stay out too long, its already way past dinner so neither of us can get anything on the way back" once Sasuke finished speaking he instantly regretted it after seeing the boys eyes falter and glisten with unshed tears then quickly looking down and speaking in his smooth soft voice " I don't h-have f-family to head home to"

Sasuke felt so ashamed of himself and sorrowful that he also looked down "I'm sorry Naruto I didn't mean to" Sasuke immediately brightened up, he didn't really have friends his age because he was content with his brother, maybe Naruto can be his first! "I know Naruto, why don't you come with me to have something to eat? I'm sure my mother won't mind"

Naruto just looked unsure of himself and didn't know if Sasukes parents were like the other adults "Are you sure? I d-don't know I've never b-been to another person's h-house before" before Naruto could voice another question Sasuke was already dragging him away.

(A short time later)

Sasuke with Naruto in tow were approaching the Uchiha District, but strangely all the lights were out and there was a dark feeling coming from the district. **"Boy, I don't like this feeling, it feels like HIM" **the boy didn't reply but internally nodded as he could sense the evil that was coming from the district. They both slowed to a walk and tentatively entered into the Uchiha district. What they both saw horrified them, there were dead clansmen littering the main street of the Uchiha district.

Sasuke ran over to one of the dead bodies and Naruto followed "AUNT! UNCLE!" Sasuke screamed in agony because what Naruto obviously assumed were his uncle and auntie were both lying in pools of their own blood. Tears started to form in Sasukes eyes and Naruto just stared grief stricken over seeing a dead body **"Boy you need to get out of their!" **but before Naruto could voice the opinion Sasuke had shot off further into the district. Naruto wordlessly followed already predicting where they were heading and what had most likely happened _" I'm sorry kyuubi I have to go with Sasuke he will need me I can feel it and I always stick by my precious people"_

They both shot through the streets were more dead bodies laid until they reached the biggest house in the district and entered. They ran through the maze of halls until they reached a door, both looked at each other before Sasuke put his hand on the door handle and froze. What would he see when he opened it? He didn't want to think about it but couldn't help it until he was slightly eased when Naruto said " I promise I won't let you face whatever it is alone" comforted by these words Sasuke opened the door and they both walked in to see a man and a woman dead, the man on top of the woman protectively. But what made both their blood run cold was when a teenager a few years older than them step into the light that looked eerily similar to Sasuke.

"Why, Itachi. WHY DID YOU KILL THEM!" Naruto was shocked, this must have been Sasukes brother and he couldn't possibly have killed his own parents, Naruto protects his friends with his life let alone parents that he wished for every waking day and sleeping night. The emotionless voice came to their ears " To test myself" then two shuriken appeared on the wall and door above each of their shoulders then a few seconds later a deep gash appeared of both their left shoulders. They both winced in pain and Sasuke slumped to the floor in anguish and despair. _" I need to get us out of here now! Think Naruto think! " _ but it was futile, Sasuke was all but incapacitated and this killer was starting to emit a huge wave of killing intent making Sasuke move into a foetal position and freezing Naruto in fear for his life. Yet what pulled him out of his fear was that when he looked into the teenagers eyes they were crimson red with 3 commas in them spinning wildly. And if that wasn't weird enough the teenagers soul wasn't filled with sinister and blackness like he thought it should be after murdering so many people, what he saw was a anguished and remorseful soul, seeking for self-repentance in anyway shape or form.

And with that Naruto grabbed Sasuke and put him on his shoulder with a bit of effort. He turned on his heel and ran back into the Maze of hall ways and didn't feel the emotions of the teenager keeping within range so thought he wasn't chasing them when he finally stopped to catch breath back outside in the main street. That was until he looked up and felt the remorseful feeling coming from directly behind them and Sasuke got off his back and was looking behind him.

Naruto turned around to see none other than the teenager staring at them until he said "good-bye Sasuke and threw a selection of ninja weaponry towards him. Naruto acted on instinct and could feel his brain processing everything at high speeds. His eye sight heightened and he could see everything slowing down around him. He quickly jumped in front of Sasuke and took the hits in spots his brain had somehow remembered and moved in sync to that were not fatal.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke shouted in alarm and fear. Naruto collapsed onto one knee and Itachi smiled inwardly _"it seems the jinchuuriki boy might be able to help Sasuke redeem this arrogant and foolish clan, good, I could never have lived with myself if I had to kill my own brother as well as my mother and father" _"Why did you save my Otouto, Naruto was it?" and Naruto answered with a fire of passion Sasuke never in a million years a fumbling, shy boy like him could possess " Because he is my friend, and If I didn't I would not be Naruto Uzumaki, my nindo: To always protect my precious people, my home and never, even if the darkness surrounds me EVER GIVE UP! Now what would I be if I couldn't uphold my nindo?" and all Sasuke could do was watch this boy stand up to his genius brother who had just wiped out his whole clan with awe and inspiration _"Naruto, you. I never would of guessed this shy boy to be so determined" _

" That is immensely admirable Naruto, but what will you do when you must face my..TSKUYOMI!" Itachi's eyes blazed and turned into a 3 edged pinwheel and suddenly Naruto were both sucked into the most powerful genjutsu in the elemental nations. "Now Naruto, what will you do? There is no hope in here, no light and I control this dimension" and he answered " I will persevere and find light, for there is never darkness without light!" _"This boys will, truly is a special thing, but now I must test it as well as my brothers own will to restore this clan" _Itachi turned to Sasuke who was just frozen in fear and watching the exchanges. "Sasuke, learn to hate me, feed on it and let it consume you, when you have attained my eyes I will test my strength against you" once this was said Naruto could feel Sasukes once pure soul start to become tainted, with each passing second it blackened and the darkness surrounded it attempting to take over, until Naruto spoke in his smooth, determined and now soft voice "Sasuke, you do not need to listen to him, fight through the darkness, you can still seek redemption for your fallen clan by defeating your brother. FIGHT THROUGH THE PAIN for that dark road will be your downfall" slowly Sasukes heart stoped blackening and a sliver of the once pure soul was visible to Narutos eyes as he stared at Sasuke before turning back to Itachi but he had disappeared and the whole massacre of the Uchiha clan was played in full before he and Sasukes eyes. After the horrifying experience they both saw Itachi again and he said in his monotone voice " That was 3 seconds, you now have 71 hours 59 minutes and 57 seconds remaining" which made Sasuke go pale and start shivering, but Naruto stood strong, he had faced similar pain but this was another version of it served on a different plate. Suddenly they were sucked back into the massacre again and again, for what seemed like eternity the peoples deaths played over and over and over in their minds, weakening their resolve and faltering their minds. The irreparable harm that was befall them could not be stopped by the great kyuubi no Kitsune as he too watched the sickening massacre with and was worried about his container and the younger Uchiha but was completely ok with the images as he had seen and done worse. _**" I know you can face this Naruto..."**_

After what was an eternity in the genjutsu but really only 10 seconds in the real world Itachi released both of them and heard the sounds of ninjas footsteps, as well as his younger brother collapsing after the ordeal. But what truly amazed him was that Naruto was on his hands and knees panting with sweat and tears coming down. " I can see the remorse within you I-ta-chi" and with that he passed out. To think he could even stay conscious at all was a feat in itself. The footsteps grew louder and shouts were heard. Itachi shed a tear and looked at his brother with what the blonde had suggested, remorse and wanted nothing more than to help him but knew he couldn't, he had chosen this path and must walk it.

An Anbu team arrived at the scene but Itachi had already disappeared-to see Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto unconscious on the floor with some dead bodies spread around the street and no one alive or conscious. Dog arrived very shortly after and saw the scene and then saw Naruto and nearly had a heart attack and hastily commanded "Cat, get a big clean squad, Tenzo, get to Hokage-sama and the rest of you help me with these two to the hospital NOW!"


	5. Chapter 5: Beginning of a Ninja

(Psych Ward of the hospital-3 days after Uchiha Massacre)

A room in the hospital was dedicated to the last Uchiha and the 'demon child'. Many who learnt of what had transpired had attempted to harm the boy so many times that the Anbu defending the room couldn't possibly count. All were demanding the boys blood for they believed it to be him until the information was released that Itachi Uchiha had destroyed the entire clan making Sasuke the last Uchiha. Once it had happened the Hokage had rushed over to see if his surrogate grandson and the young Uchiha were ok. To his relief they were alright, but had suffered psychological trauma that would send any and everyone insane. He was afraid, as was everyone else as to whether Naruto would wake up a different boy from the trauma as he had suffered trauma similar and over a longer period of time, but this instant and nearly eternal genjutsu could have tipped him over the edge for the worst. Sasuke Uchiha although suffering from the trauma and seeking possible revenge, could overcome it as he had all the money he had inherited and all the villagers as well as shinobi would support him. But Naruto had no one and nothing besides the Third who could and would help him, but there was only so much the Hokage could do for the boy.

No one was in the room currently to see Naruto sketching like he always did, not really thinking about what it was he was sketching because he was within his own thoughts _Why did Itachi wipe out his clan? It doesn't make sense, I could feel his remorse and sorrow, but then where was that evil and foreboding feeling really coming from? If it wasn't Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan like he thought it was...no way ! NO WAY would HE be there _**Yes boy, it was Madara, I think you and Itachi were the only ones that will ever know he was there. I believe he aided in destroying his clan which in fact helps us because that clan was a no good rott- **_Ok foxy-Chan I understand you hate the clan ok? But if he was there how come he didn't want to try and take you from me? Maybe he couldn't feel you? _**As to that I am not exactly certain but we cannot think about that, now is the time to train and become strong, I know you have been doing your fuinjutsu and light exercise but you are entering that ninja academy soon but it will not be enough to keep Madara from wreaking havoc on the elemental nations. We must prepare and to do whatever it takes to become strong and destroy him and yes 'protect your oohh so precious village' but to also to not allow him to control me again- **_**but also stop him from taking my family, no matter how disconnected, I promised the old man I would look after them no matter how strong they are individually-**_he ended with his thoughts while sending the image of himself using his claws as quotations.

_I understand Kyuubi, but we need to do this in secret from everyone except jiji, we can't trust anyone else and we I don't have a sensei- _**Why would you need a sensei** the fox loudly interrupted in his head **When you have the strongest chakra being in existence whose been alive for 9000 years? **_Good question, you any good? _To which the fox just snorted **I was torching entire forest expanses with my fire techniques before your grandfathers grandfather was suckling on your grandfathers grandfathers mothers nipple...-**_You totally lost me there foxy-chan...anyway as soon as we are out of here I will continue with fuinjutsu study as well as practising Shogi and basically in taking as much knowledge as possible but I will have to start training on my body and taijutsu and besides the grand fire ball jutsu, I got nothing- _**We don't have to worry about ninjutsu as I can't give you any of mine because they are all above B ranked so you will have to get your control up and reserves up even though your reserves are high its better if they grow even more! Also at the moment I have calculated that you can only use 1 tail of my chakra efficiently which is quite the feat for a runt like you. No matter but I will be teaching you a taijutsu style that you will practise until you drop. UNDERSTAND! **_SIR YES SIR! _**Good now...nice drawing but I hate that eye more than I hate the clan themselves **

Naruto came out of his thoughts and realised he had painted a perfect Mangekyo Sharingan, it looked intimidating and it brought him back to the haunting images and bloodshed he had to witness. He tried to shack it out of his thoughts but it was the first time he had ever seen anyone die so vividly and so many at once. It made him want to vomit or cry, whichever is first. But he knew he would have to strive past it to reach his goal and protect the village like his Jiji. He turned to look at the other bed to see Sasuke also awake staring at the image he had painted

"I will kill him Naruto, I swear it, I will not stop training, fighting and I will certainly not die before I destroy him. I don't care if isn't the right path, he slaughtered my entire family, you saw it and I can tell even you will continue to have nightmares about it and they didn't even have any connection to you. I watched my family die hundreds, if not thousands of times. I watched as my brother decimated my cousins, aunties, uncles and my own mother and father. I will kill him and restore honour to my fallen clan, this I swear" he ended with resolve and unstoppable fury. Naruto just looked at him in pity and sadness, this boy had become like him, alone and lost, losing everything he ever cherished. He could understand why he was doing it. But by god he would try to stop him, if it was the last thing he did, this boy was his friend and he protected his friends from even themselves " I understand Sasuke, but if you truly want to kill your brother then train, fight and survive to destroy him. But then what will you do afterwards? Where will you put your hatred? I might be 8 years old but I haven't been innocent from the real world since I was 3 years old. You have a chance at continuing a good and happy life, while I do not. Do not waste it; your family wouldn't want you to dedicate your life to killing your brother but to revive their nearly extinct clan. Think about it and whatever your decision I will respect it. But the second you endanger this village and its people, I will kill you..." Naruto finished by narrowing his eyes and staring back into Sasukes soul to see it in a very dark state, one that would be hard pressed to come back to the light, but he will try damn it!

Sasuke just looked at Naruto and realised that although having a shy and protected exterior, Naruto was...he couldn't explain it but he knew that Naruto was different, strong, and for a clan less orphan probably the only person on this planet to understand him but still keep fighting, but how? IT DOESNT MATTER! He would never deviate from the path of revenge, he was now an avenger and he could not continue his life without retribution. His father, his mother his whole fucking FAMILY WAS GONE! And he would not let the murderer go no matter what. He would grow strong, with the hate and revenge to somehow attain the eyes Itachi had and send him into the depths of hell! But why does Naruto have such a passion for this place? With only the little time spent with him I could feel the fear and disgust reflected in the villagers...maybe his parents did something really bad? Who knows, my path in life is set.

"You may be right Naruto, but it is the only thing that will ease the hatred in my heart, I don't want the pampered life that will come with being the last of my clan, all I want is revenge-" he looks away from the sharingan eye to see Naruto staring intently at him with those piercing sapphire eyes " Sasuke, your heart will never lose the pain of loss, if you ever do kill your brother there will be a void in your heart. I have thought of revenge many a time but I know that it will only lead to more pain. Just remember, I am your friend, although you are my only one I strive to help and protect those that are precious to me. I understand if you-...you don't want to be my fr-r-iend because I will only..." he was showing too much weakness in his voice, he lowered his head and couldn't bring it in himself to lift it, he just didn't like the thought of losing his first and only true friend because of his status and also because of his need for revenge"...I will only bring you more pain. You don't understand now but having me as a friend is a bad thing even to the last of the Uchiha. We can see each other in the academy and whenever you need my help I will know- don't ask me that either." He finished and looked up to see Sasuke looking at him with a cold look but Naruto could see the quizzical look if he searched further he could also see sadness.

"Why Naruto? You are the only person that understands me but why would you and I being friends hinder me?" _because I have a demon in my gut and people can't tell the difference between me and him_ he wanted to say that so badly but he only said "Maybe one day you will know, but for now it doesn't matter, now is the time for training to become the best ninja we can be but Sasuke, please, do not be so cold and closed off. Other people will undoubtedly have no idea what you're going through, everyone in this village might not understand you but they want to help you, and the time will come when I am further ostracised and we will be split apart-but remember that I will always be your friend and always understand. Just try to make friends and accept that help, you never know you might make a new family with new people that can comfort you when you need it...please" Naruto finished while leaking a few tears

" Naruto I don't understand! I want to be your friend, you're the only one I have right now-""NO, you don't have to understand I told you, the time will come when we can be friends but right now associating with me is not the right thing. How about this-we can be friends but when we graduate from the academy as leaf genin we can be best friends without any worries!" he said with a grin for which Sasuke managed the first smile since the massacre " Deal, but also to add to that deal because we can finally become friends for real you have to show me your face" he said with a shit eating grin " B-b-but I-My-um-face-errr...fine, but ONLY YOU! NO ONE ELSE!" he all but screamed

"Deal-" Sasuke held his hand out and Naruto shook it " Deal" and then Sasuke abruptly pulled Naruto out of his bed and hugged him out of nowhere " Thank you for saving my life Naruto, I don't know what would of happened if I never met you, and we might not be able to be friends in front of the villagers or shinobi for whatever reason but I will be your friend I promise." And with that Sasuke let go after showing his true colours, smiled widely and then laid back down on his bed slowing receding back into his cold shell. Naruto just looked at him and couldn't believe that Sasuke would ever smile after the ordeal, which made him smile madly and he went back to his sketch pad only to remember the one he was going to give to Sasuke, it was a picture perfect image of Naruto on the side giving a thumbs up to Sasuke who was currently performing his best Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu. He ripped out the page and handed it out to Sasuke while using his soon to be famous eye smile.

Sasuke turned with his returned cold demeanour for it to slowly evaporate after seeing the sketch and Narutos 'smile'. Naruto motioned for him to take it " Naruto I thought you don't let anyone see your sketch book let alone give them one of your pictures..." Naruto just eye smiled again and said " Just look after it because after I draw something I'm hard pressed to redo it" Sasuke just nodded and returned to looking at the image and a ghost of a smile appeared. _Maybe, just maybe I can find something other than all the hate that resides in me...no! Itachi said to defeat him I must acquire his eyes through hate..._

He was quickly pulled out of his thoughts "Sasuke, it is time, I can feel they are coming for you. When they come in here do not say or do anything to me. This is the last time we will see each other until the academy in 2 months time...good-bye...niisan" Sasukes eyes widened after that but quickly darted to the door when two chunin came in with a look of pure disgust when they saw Naruto but it quickly changed to pity when they saw Sasuke " Uchiha-sama we were ordered by the council to remove you from this room with...him...please come with us" Sasuke looked at the chunin that was looking down on Naruto with so much hate that the room dropped 10 degrees " I believe he has a name and you will speak it if you want me to leave this room with you" he finished with a dangerous undertone. Naruto was flabbergasted, no one besides his jiji ever defended him...maybe he was right in calling him niisan(big brother) this quickly turned into a teary eye smile.

"...Naruto..." the chunin ground out with anger. And with that Sasuke got up and walked out with the chunin, but not before turning and giving his last true smile, that would not be seen for years to come and mouthed the word to Naruto 'otouto'. Sasuke was then shuffled out of the room and Naruto began to cry tears of joy. _I have someone else who is part of my family, my jiji and my niisan..._

Naruto himself was pulled out of his musings when his Jiji came through the door flanked by dog and another Anbu with a cat mask and he thought he could see some purple hair. "Naruto, are you ok my boy?" Hiruzen walked up to Naruto and took him in a tight hug " I was worried sick about you and have been waiting for you to wake up...how do you feel?" but Naruto didn't reply first he looked at dog and waved with an eye smile but then looked at Cat with a questioning look and back at his Jiji " Naruto its ok that is Cat, she like dog is one of my most trusted Anbu remember" he poked him in the belly " you don't need to be scared" Naruto scowled at this but then replied " Ok...well I feel ok but every time I close my eyes jiji I see all the dead people...and...and..." he started sniffling at the end " And they keep asking me why I let them die and why I didn't help them. Jiji they come in my dreams now and all of the dead people I see always say WHY!" he finished and was now completely sobbing, he couldn't do this with Sasuke in the room, he didn't want to look weak in front of his new niisan but his jiji would look after him.

" Shhhh its ok Naruto my boy, it's ok, you couldn't do anything you are just an 8 year old boy and Itachi was a Anbu captain even if he was only a teenager. You will be fine my boy..." Naruto looked up at his jiji with tears leaking down his face and dropping onto his scarf "But jiji I couldn't help them or be their pillar like you said, I was trying my best to save Sasuke but we still got hurt, maybe you passed the will of fire on to the wrong person jiji..."

Hiruzen just looked at the boy before him, he cared more about saving the others and Sasuke than himself, if this boy didn't have the will of fire than nobody did. "You are wrong Naruto, the will of fire burns so bright within you that it lights up the whole village, you put yourself in harm's way for a future comrade and suffered from the strongest genjutsu in existence only to think about how you couldn't save the others, if you didn't hold the will of fire than no one in this entire village could either" he finished with his trademark grandfatherly smile and Naruto brightened up after hearing this, feeling his guilt slowly fall away while in his grandfathers arms. "Thanks jiji, but also jiji I was going to ask you if you could enrol me into the academy this year so I can be with Sasuke! And also I don't want to be weak anymore and you're the strongest in the village so you can help me get stronger to help the village that you have for so long, because you know you're getting old and I'm going to have to takeover soon!" he said while bouncing up and down on the bed out of his jijis arms.

Cat was just thinking that her commander/ leader of the village was going to explode after that comment like he did for anyone else that questioned his age and leadership but too her amazement he just laughed and replied "Naruto my boy lets go to my office, Cat please sign Naruto out of the hospital under my orders and Dog you can accompany me to the Hokage tower since it is little Narutos birthday 3 days ago and I hope he didn't forget about it" the third said with a twinkle in his eye. And to tell you the truth Naruto completely forgot about his birthday because of the massacre and being in a hospital for 3 days.

Hiruzen hugged the young boy to his body and used shunshin to get to his office as did dog. " Ok Naruto now since I haven't given you anything substantial since your 4th birthday I'm going to give you a VERY special staff given to me when I was young by the monkey king of the time, Son Goku _**(a/n not the Goku we know and love the mythology Goku king of monkeys where our favourite orange wearing saiyan got his name from and funnily enough the myth where he also got his power pole from)**___.

The Third unsealed a small pole that was half as tall as Naruto now, " My boy this staff is special, here take it and see _Hopefully the staff accepts him like it did me until Son Goku passed and the weapon refused me, thank god at the same time I got Enma or my bojutsu study would be for naught. _Naruto cautiously took the orange staff off of the Third with Dog watching in the background. The weapon began to lightly hum and Naruto could feel his chakra running through and felt like the weapon resonated with him and without him even knowing how he knew what to do he exclaimed " Power pole EXTEND!" and with that command the pole grew in size to be the perfect size for him to fight.

His eyes widened and so did the Sandaime and Dogs "HOLY CRAP JIJI THIS IS EVEN MORE AWESOME THAN MY FUINJUTSU BRUSH!" Naruto screamed to the heavens and the other occupants in the room had to sweat drop at this. "Naruto this is not a toy, this a weapon and must be used accordingly" Hiruzen chided " from now till when you start the academy we will be training every night in Bojutsu, but you cannot tell anyone because if I was shown to favour you I could get into a lot of trouble, but I'd rather be your sensei and help you grow than you sit and not do anything in the academy because I know you hate sitting around and listening to someone else, you like to be independent and learn yourself and that is commendable. So what do you say?"

Both older occupants kept staring at Naruto as he just stood there looking at his new bojutsu staff and then looked at the Hokage with stars in his eyes and started bouncing up and down like he always does when he gets the chance to learn new things " OH MY KAMI JIJI YES YES YES I GET TO LEARN FROM THE HOKAGE AND BEAT PEOPLE WITH MY NEW POLE AWESOME!" he shouted even louder than last time. Almost immediately afterwards he stopped jumping and apologised "sorry jiji I was just excited that I get to learn more! But when do we start?" Sarutobi had a grandfatherly smile "We will start tomorrow night but you better get home my boy so you can rest up, you must be prepared but when you get to the academy you will not be allowed to inform them of any training from me...oh and Naruto" just as Naruto was turning to dog as they were going to depart " If you complete the training I need you to do I will teach you a jutsu you will love, and just for a hint it's a fire one, and a very hard one at that"

And just like that Naruto's determination sky rocketed while he had stars shining in his eyes and bouncing on each foot just teeming with pure excitement but before he could scream with joy he was abruptly taken away from his Jiji via shunshin by our favourite anbu captain. " Aww Dog- Ojisan I didn't get to say good bye to jiji properly and tell him how excited I was for the new fire jutsu I will learn if I get all his studies and training down before the academy" Dog looked down at the young blonde and replied " Did you say something?" Naruto just looked at him with a pout but said "Fine be that way Dog-Ojisan" (is friendly term for uncle so like 'Uncle Dog').

Just before Naruto could sulk and walk through his front door Dog put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, gently spun him back around and said " Happy Birthday Naruto, this is a little something I thought you would like better than your scarf" held out to Naruto was a face mask that matched his dark shinobi clothing. Even bigger stars than when he was told about a new jutsu emerged "DOG-OJISAN THATS AWESOME! ITS LIKE SHARINGAN NO KAKASHI FROM THE BINGO BOOK THAT I STOLE FROM HOKAGE-JIJI AND HE IS MY 2ND BEST HERO BECAUSE HE IS SO AWESOME AND HE WEARS A MASK JUST LIKE THAT BUT MY 1ST BEST HERO IS-"Naruto suddenly stopped himself when he realised he had just told his self-proclaimed uncle that he stole from his grandpa and a bingo book no less as well as spouting out his other hero besides the Yondaime.

Dogs eyes widened at the unexpected outburst and he chuckled at the irony of the situation and noted to himself to one day surprise Naruto with his 'awesomeness' but wanted to know why he got a bingo book and why he was his hero . " Naruto why did you steal a bingo book from Hokage-sama and why am I-err-is Sharingan no Kakashi you 2nd hero?" Naruto just looked up at Dog after fumbling as usual after telling him he stole the bingo book. " Well I was curious about how good other people were and I also wanted to know how cool jiji was and I found out he is super cool! He is S-ranked and they call him 'God of Shinobi' that means jiji can beat anyone up! He is my third best hero!" Kakashi lightly chuckled at the irony of the third being Narutos third favourite shinobi until Naruto continued ranting " But then I looked up one of the older bingo books so I could find my first best hero the Yondaime or 'Yellow Flash of Konoha' and they had a flee on sight order on him and he was the first ever ninja to have SS rank! Which then lead me to finding he had a student who was super cool as well with this face mask that I soooo wanted instead of my scarf! AND NOW YOU GAVE ME ONE! The only thing cooler would be if Kakashi gave it to me!" Kakashi was holding in his laughter but he was also kind of flattered but the irony was just too good. " Alright now run along Naruto, training starts tomorrow so be ready and I will see you soon, stay out of trouble." Kakashi/Dog waved and did a two fingered salute before leaving in a poof of smoke.

Naruto was still star struck from having his mask and didn't even acknowledge Dog leaving or getting to say thank you, he quickly vowed that he would later and removed his scarf and swapping it with his new mask that was reminiscent of a silver haired Cyclops. The only difference between them was Naruto didn't have a hitai-ate covering one eye and his hair was only partly gravity defying but sunny blonde. **" Boy hurry up and get your body recuperated so we can prepare for our constant training, and I nearly forgot to tell you that besides your bojutsu, fuinjutsu and learning a new taijutsu style you will also start hard physical training!" **and once Naruto heard this he was practically bouncing and glowing with joy "YES! FOXY-CHAN TRAINING IS GOING TO BE SO AWESOME AND WE ARE GOING TO BE IN THE BINGO BOOK AND BE SSS-RANKED AND NO ONE WILL STOP US TO BECOMING HOKAGE-" ** "CAN IT BRAT! But yes we will definitely be in that feeble book of yours to strike fear into the hearts of the enemy, especially that Uchiha scu-" **"Yeah yeah foxy-chan Madara this, Uchiha that, get over it so we can train and be awesome like Hokage-jiji.

_**Why does he always inter-fucking-rupt me KAMI DAMN IT ITS ANNOYING! Ah well guess sleeping will shut him up **_**" Silence and go to bed boy, for your dog masked friend was correct, training begins soon, and I must say that mask makes us look very mysterious and hopefully the female population of your kind will find you attractive so you can-" **"Uhhhh Foxy-chan what are you saying? Will girls like me better and be my friend because of my mask?" _**Naive boy, Kami's sake please don't let me be the one to do the real birds and bees talk! **_**" Don't worry your feeble child mind and go to sleep" **

( 8 weeks later, first day of the new academy graduates)

Naruto was running from his home to the academy at an average pace, his new weights that he had received from bushy-brows sensei were slowing him down dramatically. He had his gear on and his favourite mask he got from dog-ojisan and he was practically shaking from excitement, it was his first day of the ninja academy, but his jiji said he wasn't allowed to show his true extent of his skills but besides that ace the place.

(flash back)

"_Naruto, remember you cannot show your true power for they will want to graduate you earlier and put you with older people, I want you to stay with people your age. But also remember about the will of fire, it also comes into play with the classmates, be the best person you can be and like I always tell you help people that are in need"_

(Flashback over)

As Naruto was running over the roof tops at his slower than normal speed he thought about how he was going to see Sasuke niisan and Sakura-chan but remembered that Sasuke and him couldn't be true friends in public because of his current jinchuuriki status and the repercussions that could happen if villagers made stupid and ignorant accusations if they were seen together. He still remembered how he vowed to protect Sakuras innocent soul but he was now spreading that to everyone in his year group. Although he knew there was a high chance the kids whos parents spoke ill of him would probably bully him, he was comfortable with the fact that Sasuke would always be there even if not very close. His older brother figure, even though he knew had a bit of unstable mind at the moment, always had him at ease.

Naruto actively wondered if the people in his class would be nice, he heard from his jiji that a lot of the clan heirs were in his class and that he should be respectful and nice towards them. Continuing to run towards the academy he remembered all the training he had gotten in the past two months. His fuinjutsu skills were coming along nicely and he was practicing with experimental pranks that no one could trace him to like having a seal with a blunt kunai shooter with balloons filled with paint. The village was in an uproar because of him and his jiji had paperwork in mountains. He was proud that he was now dubbed the 'Prankster King' by shinobi and civilians a like but he lost a bit of flair when he realised they don't know it's actually him. Besides that his bojutsu skills were quite adept for only being two months of solid training but his jiji said he was a natural and had to double take to make sure he wasn't seeing a sarutobi in disguise training under him. His staff, 'power pole' was on his lower back hanging horizontally always at the ready. He discovered that he can put chakra into the stick and change its form to whatever he thinks of as long as there is enough chakra and creativity and he had mountains of both.

His taijutsu style he was being tutored by the fox was an introductory what kyuubi said was called 'Deceptive Fist' and was a very unpredictable and feinting style. It incorporated the foxes and Narutos unpredictability with his agility, stamina and strength. The introductory was coming along well and he had most of the katas down to the tee. His physical training was gruelling and his body would basically shut down after training from dawn till midday with no breaks for food and rest until the time is up. He would do 1000 kicks with each leg and 1000 punches from each arm a day as well as 500 push-ups, 300 squats, 500 sit ups and other assortments of exercise. After all this hellish training he would run around the whole village 5 times which is how he met Bushy-brow sensei.

(Flashback)

_Naruto was running full pelt around his home village after his intense training session, after his 3__rd__ lap he was wondering why every 10 minutes while he was running a green blur would stream right past him at unseen speeds, so when he heard the blur coming he moved in the way of it to try and take a good look, before the green blur smashed into him it came to an abrupt stop to be none other than Konoha " Noble Green Beast". A tall very muscle packed man wearing a green body suit with orange leg and arm warmers with a shiny bowl haircut sporting a massive toothy grin that nearly blinded the blonde. But what he nearly missed was his HUGE eye brows. His impulse took over and he said "Wow Bushy-brows sensei you run DAMN quick" and after he spoke he put his hand over his mask and thought he went too far and already made another enemy to his seemingly endless list._

_He was in luck because the man gave him what looked like a good guy pose and said "YOSH! Youngling my youth burns bright and I run to spur my springtime of youth and become as youthful as possible!" he yelled nearly pushing Naruto away with soundwaves " Tell me boy, are you also running around the village to spur your youthful flames?" and Naruto could only look at him and reply again on instinct and say " What? Did you say something" totally unsure if he did because he really couldn't make sense of it. The man started crying anime tears "A YOUNG HIP BOY! YOU EVEN HAVE A MASK, ANOTHER KAKASHI IN THE MAKING GAH!" Naruto eyes widened at this "you think I can be the next sharingan no kakashi? AWESOME!" he shouted nearly as loud as guy. "Well no matter, your springtime of youth is still burning bravely...-"he looked expectantly at Naruto "my names Naruto" the man looked back with eyes blazing "YOSH Naruto! Your youth continues to brighten our village, you are the first young shinobi aspiring to train so vigorously before the academy and as such I must help stoke the flames by granting you a gift as we explode our youth by running around the village! Oh and if you were wondering, this handsome and devilish face belongs to none other than MAITO GAI!" he finished yelling to the entire universe, and probably getting them all to hear it._

_Naruto thought he was insane but then realised besides his quirks he was a very strong shinobi, before Naruto even finished 1 lap he had already completed at least ten, he was running at crazy speeds! "You have a present for me bushy-brow sensei?" Gai went straight back into his blazing good guy pose "YOSH NARUTO! I BESTOW UPON YOU CHAKRA WEIGHTS! They are weights that are governed by how much chakra you place in them and can reach nearly any weight! Use them to stoke your youthful flames and become a worthy shinobi! I must get going youngling so I may continue to run in my springtime of youth! Have a good day and we shall meet again, but until then stay YOUTHFUL!" and with that he had already thrown the weights to Naruto and rocketed off and unbelievable speeds. " Woah" is all Naruto could comprehend._

(flashback end)

Naruto was insight of the academy and he was so pumped it was unbelievable. As he got closer and closer he could see parents dropping their kids off and teachers ushering kids in. When he landed right at the front people turned and saw him and instantly whispers started _And so it begins_ he thought as he slowly walked through the front gate into a courtyard with a single swing in the corner hanging off a large tree. All the adults were staring at him in disgust and fear and he could already tell the younger people were starting to catch on in different ways. When he realised EVERYONE was staring at him, the adults obviously in hate and the kids in indifference but for some reason all the girls had slightly glazed looks that he wasn't quite sure of. He could sense the evil and ill will of most of the adults but the kids were all a slew of different emotions like they didn't know which ones to choose. He honed in on two, one was innocent and pure and he could sense happiness and he looked and saw Sakura standing with her mother and she looked as angelic as ever he honed in on another signature souls emotions and saw Sasuke standing on his own while girls were ogling him and parents trying to suck up to him.

Naruto walked up to him slowly and a lot of eyes scanned to follow him, as he made his way over Sasukes emotionless face went into a amused smirk, which was the first change in his face in quite some time. " Nice mask" Naruto could only blush lightly and scratch the back of his neck in a nervous fashion when most eyes were on them " I-um- It was a gift, should we go inside" Sasuke merely nodded and Naruto swore he could hear someone say " he is trying to control the last Uchiha"

Naruto sighed at this and knew that publically acting friendly would not end well. As Sasuke and he were the first to walk into the building they went to the class room they were assigned and had to wait at it for their new sensei to come. As they both stood and leaned on the wall they both stayed quiet until " Naruto, I hope you haven't been slouching about the past few months" he said with another amused smirk and Naruto got a bit fiery and replied " I definitely have not, I have been training like crazy and I bet I am stronger than you niisan". Sasukes eyes widened at the end and Naruto realised what he said " I-um-sorry I-err- I..." he fumbled and mumbled in his trademark way.

Sasuke just looked at him and then a true yet ghost of smile came to his face " Chill Naruto, its ok" Naruto looked back up and eye smiled to him with genuine happiness and Sasuke continued to slightly smile back and Naruto could feel his dark soul slightly brighten. Sasukes mood when straight back to emotionless with a bit of brood on the side when the rest of the class slowly turned up and lastly a man with standard shinobi gear, tanned skin with a scar of the bridge of his nose and a spiked pony tail come from the back of the group " Alright calm down kids, let's go in the class and get started" he walked past everyone and opened the door and walked in. Sasuke and Naruto were closest to the door and went in first "Take a seat where you want for now" the man they assumed was their sensei said. Sasuke led Naruto to the upper back left row and was about to enter it when Naruto asked " Can I have the window seat?" afterwards he pulled out his sketch pad and implicated to it and Sasuke understood and with a curt nod allowed him through. He knew Naruto would like to draw inspiration and day dream by looking outside the window to the world and he didn't mind.

As they both got seated the others had slowly entered the class as well. The two quiet boys eyes went to the front of the room when the heard loud moving and shuffling and saw all the girls basically fighting to get that last seat in Naruto and Sasukes row. And what would be known as the fangirl war had officially started. Both Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other with a raised eye brow and then just shrugged it off. A random girl that looked like a civilian had quickly snuck in the seat and all the other girls had whined and complained by sensei had order them to their seats. The rest of the students had sat down but the girl sitting next to Sasuke had already started ogling at him already. Naruto was confused by this but ignored it.

"Hello new students, my name is Iruka Umino and I will be your sensei for this class, this is my assistant Mizuki" and a averaged sized silver haired guy walked in with his chunin flak jacket in and waved to the class before eyeing Naruto then quickly moving on so as not to get caught staring hatefully. " I will call out each of your names and tell us your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future and such". Iruka started going through the names, first there was a kid named Shino who liked bugs and wanted to become a good clan head and shinobi, then there was a chubby boy named Choji who liked food and also aspired to be a good clan head. After a few people he didn't remember Sakura was called out and said she liked flowers and also looked towards Sasuke and blushed like the girls before her. This made Narutos heart clench and he stiffened a bit. Sasuke noticed what and why but didn't voice it as to not distress his friend. After Sakura a girl named Hinata barely said anything because her stuttering and mumbling was worse than Narutos when he was socially distressed. Then a boy named Kiba who boisterously called out his name and how he too wanted to be an outstanding ninja and clanhead and seemed very cocky and arrogant. It kept going until a boy named Shikamaru just replied with a slight "troublesome" and then went back to sleep gaining a tick mark on Iruku-sensei's forhead. After sleepily and sluggishly introducing himself it finally came to Sasuke. Iruka looked towards him and prompted Sasuke to start he just emotionlessly stared back at everyone and their sensei and simply said " Sasuke Uchiha" and then relaxed back in his chair as to say that was all he was going to speak. After this most of the girls in the class except Hinata squealed and giggiled until Iruka then looked to Naruto and he reluctantly and nervously looked at Sasuke while everyone stared at him expectantly. Sasuke prompted him to go with a slight nudge and he said " M-my Name is Uzumaki Naruto, thats all" he finished slowly and methodically, he didn't know it yet but his voice was coming along quite smooth and perfect. All the girls including Hinata this time sighed dreamily to his voice and Naruto didn't understand what was happening. After him a few more introductions happened but the last one, from a blonde pretty girl called Ino was also another clan heir but not really wishing to become the next best one.

"Alright introductions are over, now we will begin the work for the next 4 years to come in the academy, and finally, welcome on behalf of all the staff, study hard and practise to and you will all become splendid shinobi to defend your home" And so the academy days had begun, but Sasuke just ignored everything as he would just study it when he wanted to while Naruto had already studied the curriculum from classes that were only run in war time so he was already miles ahead. They both just looked at each other and shrugged. Naruto began to sketch and Sasuke began to brood.

And so it truly begins.


End file.
